1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to transitions to new network protocols and, more specifically, in an exemplary embodiment, a network test environment is provided as a cloud service accessible via IPv4 to test new protocol and network configuration for IPv6 components and configurations.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet is currently based on the IPv4 protocol (Internet Protocol version 4). However, due to rapid adoption of the Internet, available address space in the IPv4 protocol has been depleted and the Internet needs to transition to IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6).
IPv6 has a much larger address space, along with other additional capabilities. Thus, IPv6 and IPv4, although versions of the same protocol, have significant differences and all network and network-related components, whether servers, applications, storage, etc., that are network connected, need to be upgraded to IPv6 from IPv4. Additionally, the addressing structures in IPv6 are different, as are capabilities like mobility, multicasting and address auto-configuration.
The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is expected to happen gradually. In a study by the present inventors, it is expected that an enterprise will need to spend about 6% of its annual IT (information technology) budget to transition to IPv6, over multiple years.
Typically, each network domain (e.g., enterprise, etc.) will first try to create an internal IPv6 sandbox to learn first-hand about this new technology by experimenting with its various capabilities. Doing this in a sandbox shields the customer's existing IPv4 network from the IPv6 testing.
The term “sandbox” has arisen recently as referring to an arena in which network specialists of an enterprise could “play in” for purpose of learning about IPv6 and testing their enterprise IPv6 components without having to actually implement these components on their existing network until they are deemed to function satisfactorily.
Businesses will typically begin the transition to IPv6 by setting up an internal sandbox/test network for the purpose of gaining experience, for testing application compliance and migration techniques, etc. Setting up such a test network requires the customer to, firstly, develop in-house IPv6 skills and, secondly, invest in procuring all the necessary IPv6 components that will comprise the test network.
The present invention provides a different approach, by providing an arena in which IPv6 components are available for customization without as much initial investment, so that users can become familiar with this new technology, including testing of IPv6 components and interconnections that may eventually be implemented by an enterprise outside the arena, as permanent components in an entity's existing network.